Dutch architects employ high-tech modernism for timber apartments

This 30-metre building in Amsterdam designed by Frantzen architects is unapologetically wooden.

Its load-bearing structure is made from 410 cubic metres of pinewood CLT and glulam which have been left exposed for full view by occupants and onlookers. Its exposed trusswork, in particular, is a major feature of the building’s façade, forming a contemporary iteration of structural expressionism.

Patch22 Residence in Amsterdam was designed by Frantzen et al Architecten, a Dutch firm who employed structural timber technology to differentiate the building from competitors during a housing slump.

It was also chosen for its sustainability credentials and using a software program similar to Australia’s Accurate, the building achieved a score of 8.9/10 for sustainability. This was thanks, in part, to the architects’ choice of structural timber, but also to a number of other sustainability initiatives they adopted.

Patch22’s roof is entirely covered with PV panels, making the building energy-neutral. Rainwater is also collected and reused in a grey water system, while heat for the building is generated using CO2-neutral pellet stoves that use compressed waste wood from the timber industry as fuel.

The building recently won the World Architecture News Multi-Residential category, but it is, in fact, a mixed-use building, depending on how the tenants choose to use it.

Placing a chunk of its structure outside the envelope freed up room inside it, meaning its floorplates are largely uninhibited by columns and are flexible and adaptable. Its generous storey height of four metres and high floor load of 4kN means floors can be divided up to suit a number of residential or commercial arrangements.

The building’s hollow floors also have a demountable top layer which means tenants can install services wherever they are needed.

When the building was completed in March 2016, it consisted of five single-family homes and 26 very different apartments with ancillary office space that allow the owners to customise their homes completely.